How to Breadboard an LED Circuit

Insert an LED into the breadboard.

Using your needle-nose pliers, gently bend the leads of the LED out and down, as shown.

Insert the longer LED lead (positive side, or anode) into hole 9j (that is, the hole located in row 9, column j).

Insert the shorter lead (negative side, or cathode) into any hole in the nearby negative power rail (it’s recommended that you use the hole closest to row 9 of your breadboard).

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Insert the 470 ohm resistor into the breadboard.

Gently bend the leads of the resistor so that they are at 90-degree angles to the body of the resistor. (A 90-degree angle is what you find in each corner of a square.)

Because it doesn’t matter which way you orient the resistor in a circuit, insert either lead into hole 9h and the other lead into any hole in the column labeled +. (The figure shows the hole in row 13.)

Because holes 9h and 9j are connected, the resistor and the LED are connected.

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Connect the 9-volt battery to the power rails of the breadboard.

Insert the black battery lead (negative battery terminal) into the top hole in the rightmost column, labeled −. (You could insert the black lead into any of the holes in this column, because they’re all connected.) You are connecting the negative battery terminal to the negative side (cathode) of the LED.

Insert the red battery lead (positive battery terminal) into the top hole in the leftmost column, labeled +. (You could insert the red lead into any of the holes in this column, because they’re all connected.) You are connecting the positive battery terminal to the resistor, completing the circuit.

The figure shows how your finished circuit should look.

Did your LED turn on? If it did, congratulations! You’ve successfully breadboarded your first circuit!